That was several years ago, and now the fast-growing social-networking site allows users to be friends with anyone from relatives and friends to community groups, local businesses and politicians.

But the local police department?

More and more, local police are using social-networking tools such as Facebook, Twitter and e-mail feeds to keep residents up to date on police news in the community. This month, Upper Allen Township police joined other midstate departments, such as Susquehanna Township and Lower Allen Township, in adding Facebook to its repertoire of communication tools.

It’s all about reaching out to all the different media people use, said Detective Ryan Parthemore, one of Upper Allen Township police’s technology gurus.

“I looked at my own personal habits,” he said. “I read PennLive.com and I check my Facebook. But I don’t use Twitter as much.”

Parthemore became a police officer in 2001 after working in the information technology field. He was shocked, he said, to see how far behind police departments were when it came to using the Internet to reach out to residents.

Another officer with an IT background, Brian Barnes, came on board in 2005, and the two have revamped the department’s use of technology. They keep a detailed police log online — complete with mugshots — send alerts to residents via Facebook, Twitter and e-mail, host online safety tips and crime information, and even publish stats related to the township, including graphs on alcohol-related crashes and frequencies of service calls.

Having that available is important in today’s information-driven world where people are used to finding out anything from their smart phones, Parthemore said.

“The expectation is that answers can be obtained instantly,” he said. “So people want that information right away.”

But there’s a practical side to keeping people informed. The more people who know what you’re looking for, Parthemore said, the wider you cast your net to pull in tips. For example, the department could send out an alert for a missing child with a photo and people getting the message would be on the lookout.

Gina DiStefano, 44, a township resident, friended the police on Facebook and said she appreciates the updates.

“I’m in the community. I have a daughter. I’m always interested to know what’s going on out there,” she said.

DiStefano used to check the department’s website regularly, but Facebook makes it that much easier.

“If I’m waiting somewhere — like if I’m sitting in a doctor’s office — I’m on Facebook,” she said.

Susquehanna Township Police Chief Rob Martin said his department’s Facebook page has gotten a great response from residents since it was launched last summer. Just as officers go into the community to interface with people, Facebook gives them a chance to reach that digital community as well.

And, he said, it provides another avenue to get information out.

“Folks may have not caught it in the paper or watched it on the 6 o’clock news,” he said. “But they check their Facebook.”

Expect more departments to follow suit, said Charles Palmer, executive director of the Center for Advanced Entertainment and Learning Technologies at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

Police departments are most successful when residents trust them, Palmer said. Department Facebook pages help build that trust in the same way beat cops walking the streets do, he said.

“You’re going to see a lot more of this sort of thing happen,” Palmer said.

Dauphin County Crimestoppers launched its Facebook page this week with photos and information on fugitives. The group is looking into how it can use it to get information to the community said its coordinator, Detective Sgt. David Hodges of Dauphin County’s criminal investigation division

Hodge said he was amazed at how fast police learned the identity of an accused bank robber in Lower Paxton Township after a photo of him hit the Internet.

“Within 10 minutes, somebody had called and identified the guy,” he said.

Hodges said Facebook has been helpful in tracking down wanted people.

“People have called me and said, ‘Hey, I just found this person on Facebook and he has an address that’s listed and he’s going to school in Colorado,’ ” he said.

Police have been using social media to solve crimes for a while. After all, it’s a mine of personal information that can help officers learn a suspect’s habits, associates and even how to find them if they’re constantly posting their location in tweets or Facebook updates.

And it’s amazing how much incriminating information people will volunteer online.

“It’s one of the basic steps in an investigation now,” Parthemore said.

A couple of years ago, Parthemore said, investigators were able to connect a suspect to a string of car burglaries because she posted a high-resolution photo on her Facebook page of her holding a gun. Investigators were able to zoom in on the serial number and see that it was reported stolen from one of the cars.

Law enforcement’s infiltration of social networking has made some uneasy.

In some cases, police around college campuses have been criticized for busting parties they found out about on Facebook.

Last year, the state Office of Homeland Security came under fire when a firm it hired monitored social-networking activities of activists and sent information about them to law-enforcement officials.

But, Palmer said, police work on social-networking sites isn’t any more invasive than what companies and other people do with the publicly posted information.

“Most of these suspects want to brag about themselves,” said state police spokesman Trooper Tom Pinkerton. “The best place to brag about themselves is on social-networking sites.”

In December, police arrested two Lebanon County teens after they posted photos on Facebook of themselves inside a Mount Gretna home that had been broken into and from where two televisions were stolen.

Cornwall police had gotten a tip that a summer home had been broken into, but they weren’t sure which one, Chief Bruce Harris said. Then they got a call from a Maryland woman, who said her daughter found pictures on Facebook of the teens inside of their summer home.

Law-enforcement officials said they’ve noticed people have been much freer with the information they share with the world over social-networking sites.

“I don’t know how much thought they give to it as to who will have access to this information, who will be able to see it,” Harris said. “From our perspective, it’s been helpful.”

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